


Banana boys

by parttimehuman



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: AU, Bananas, First Date, First Kiss, M/M, Soft and Fluffy, liam is his most handsome customer, theo works at a grocery store
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-03-18
Packaged: 2019-04-04 02:14:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14009961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parttimehuman/pseuds/parttimehuman
Summary: Theo works at a grocery store. Liam comes in every day and among other things, buys a banana. The banana is code for dude, I´m hella gay.





	Banana boys

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SweetPoisonedHeart](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetPoisonedHeart/gifts).



It was only six in the morning when Theo started his shift on Monday. He worked at the small grocery store in the middle of Beacon Hills, right around the corner of his former High School. The job didn´t pay much, and it certainly wasn´t fun filling up the shelves and dealing with a couple of hundred annoyed and impatient customers per day, but Theo hadn´t exactly had many job opportunities. He´d given up on school before finishing senior year, his oringinal intention being to get on the road and leaving Beacon Hills for good, but he´d never made it. 

He was stuck now, stuck in the small town that constantly reminded him of the home that didn´t exist anymore, in a daily routine that didn´t leave enough time for a healthy amount of sleep, and once again stuck in social isolation. There were plenty of other people his age in Beacon Hills, but it was simply too exhausting proving people that there was still something likeable hidden in the cracks of his broken soul. Another thing that Theo had long given up on. 

Theo would have stopped trying, stopped living, if it hadn´t required for him to actively end his suffering. Even that was too much effort. So he dragged his tired body to work six days a week, pulled the incredibly ugly red and green polo shirt they made him wear over his aching head and gave the people the fakest smile he could manage. At least they let me sit at the register, he told himself when things got really bad. But that being his only consolation should have told him how far his desperation had come. 

Theo was just stacking canned peaches on top of a shelf, having to stand on his toes and stretch his arms, but too lazy to get himself a stepladder from the back office, when an exceptionally pleasant scent appeared in the store, announcing the one thing that Theo actually liked about his job: the daily visit of who must have been the cutest boy in Beacon Hills. 

He usually came early in the morning, grabbing a drink and some food, his choice varying slightly every day, but always containing a banana. He smelled like a fresh shower and minty toothpaste. Yes, Theo had been paying very close attention for the last couple of months. He´d noticed every new pair of shoes, every different haircut, every tiny little change in the way he moved. 

Theo closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. He still hadn´t caught sight of his most handsome customer. He remembered the one time he´d watched the gorgeous boy walking through the aisles, humming along to the song on the store´s radio quietly, bobbing his head just a little bit, seemingly completely lost in his own reality. It had been an image of true beauty, pure and breathtaking and untouchable.

Theo opened his eyes again just at the right moment to see him rounding the corner, his light brown hair damp, a single strand of it falling into his face, the baby blue eyes wide open, scanning the shelves on either side as if he didn´t already know what to get. He wore his backpack over one shoulder as usual. Theo would have suspected that he attended Beacon Hills High School, except that Theo had gone there himself not that long ago, and he was pretty sure he would have noticed the guy. 

Theo tried to calm his breathing, but the attempt was as hopeless as the one to keep his heart from hammering against his ribcage, especially when he realized the boy was looking at him. His eyes were wandering around the store, but the always came across the same point again: Theo. To the left, to Theo. To the right, to Theo. Up, down, Theo. And Theo was blushing so hard at the thought, his cheeks felt like they were on fire. 

He kept moving, kept putting cans on top of the shelf, because what else should he have done? But it was hard, so fucking hard, moving slowly, not trusting himself not to slip and bring the entire shelf down by accident, using all the power he could muster to keep his trembling hands under control. It was almost impossible. When his beautiful distraction passed by behind Theo´s back, he did so extremely slowly, and as if Theo needed any more reason to be internally dying, extremely close to his body. 

Theo´s head was soaring on a cloud of his intoxinating scent, his body was begging him to just lean back, just a littler further and they would touch, the other figure so close he could feel the heat radiating off of him. No, Theo didn´t just feel it, he was infected with a fever that burned him up from the inside, leaving behind nothing but a craving for more. 

He turned his head into the direction where the hot guy was now walking to, away from him, his broad shoulders stretching the fabric of his shirt, his ass bouncing deliciously. Theo was suddenly very thirsty, but he highly doubted that a drink would help satisfying his needs. No, Theo needed something else. 

Once again, like many times before during the six months that he´d been working at the grocery store, Theo told himself he had to finally take action. Sure, it was nice to have this one thing to look forward to at work, but what if... something even better was waiting for him if only he brought up the courage to make a move on the pretty boy? Theo was completely torn apart at this point. On the one hand, what else was there to want in life if not this very person by his side? On the other hand, he would have to quit his job and probably get a new identity if he asked him out and he said no. But still, the eyes... 

Theo snapped out of his daydream and back into reality when he heard a crashing noise. He looked around him, and it took him a moment to realize that he was the one who´d caused the noise. The can that had just been in his hand was now rolling over the floor with a couple of others. Fuck. Theo hurried to pick everything up before his boss would come looking for him, praying nobody had heard anything. 

"Hey, can I help you?" 

"It´s fine, you don´t have to...," Theo started his answer before he looked up into a pair of shiny blue eyes and froze. It was happening. Holy shit, Theo had dreamed up at least a hundred different ways to talk to the pretty boy, but him crouching on the floor among canned fruits and being offered help because he was too damn stupid for his job had never been one of them. 

The boy was still looking down on him expectantly, a warm smile dancing around his lips. 

"I´m sorry," Theo mumbled. He was utterly embarassed by his own clumsiness. 

"What for?" 

Theo knew this was the moment where he should stop being all weird and start flirting, but how on earth was he supposed to do that? 

"I don´t know..." he admitted, "I just... I guess I didn´t think we were at the point of our relationship where I would find myself on my knees in front of you." 

Theo couldn´t believe he´d just said that. He was so stupid. So bad at this. So awkward. So inappropriate. 

But the other boy laughed a beautiful laugh. "At which point of our relationship are we, then?" he asked curiously. 

Theo felt a little called out. No, not a little. He didn´t know he was going to answer honestly before he heard his own voice speaking. "At the point where I secretly stare at you whenever you enter the store?" he offered shakily. 

Theo regretted his statement immediately, but then a wide grin appeared on the delicate face above him and washed away every last doubt. "Well, I´ve been staring at you not so secretly, but if you want to take it slow, I´ll still let you get up and get to know me on your two feet before anyone gets on their knees again," came the response. The boy reached his hand out to Theo, who grabbed it, getting up from the floor in spite of the weak knees the soft skin of the boy´s hand caused him. 

"I´m Theo, by the way," Theo introduced himself, thinking that it was probably about time after they´d both confessed to checking each other out. 

"I know," the other boy laughed. Theo´s confusion must have been written on his face, because he pointed at Theo´s chest and explained, "you´re wearing a name tag." 

"Oh, yeah, right." For some reason, Theo´s brain didn´t seem to work properly in the presence of someone this good-looking and charming. "That gives you an advantage," he commented. 

"I´m Liam," the pretty boy smiled. 

"Hello Liam," Theo whispered. He just wanted to know what the name felt like in his mouth. He loved it. 

"Hello Theo," Liam replied. 

"You´re still holding my hand," Theo noted. He wasn´t complaining, he just couldn´t believe this was not all a dream, not just him going completely insane after all. 

"I know," Liam simply responded, "do you want me to let go?" 

"I wouldn´t say that," Theo shrugged, "I just think I should get back to work before my boss sees us." 

"Oh, yeah, sure," Liam said as he slowly took his hand away. Theo missed the feeling already. "How about you go on a date with me? I kind of want to see you in something other than that polo shirt," Liam suggested. 

Theo didn´t know how to say yes without squealing, so he nodded enthusiastically. 

"Great," Liam smiled, "when are you finishing your shift?" 

"Three," Theo told him, "but you´re going to have to give me til four if you want one of my own shirts on me." 

"Four it is," Liam declared joyfully. 

Theo couldn´t stop smiling. He felt a little dumb, but also like he didn´t give a shit about it. 

Liam didn´t move away, he just stood there, looking like a damn snack. Theo tried to process everything, but Liam´s face was almost too beautiful to be true. But he was real. And his name was Liam. And he´d been noticing Theo. And now they had a date. 

"See you later then," Theo said. 

"Yeah," Liam breathed, "I´m looking forward to it." 

"Me too." 

I still took them a second of silence to let go of the moment, to turn away and move on with what they were supposed to be doing. Theo cleaned up the mess he´d made. It was a weird feeling, having almost the entire shift ahead of him and still feeling happy, feeling free, feeling like not everything that happened to him had to make him suffer. Maybe the time had finally come for something softer, something warm and nice and cozy, something that would make him want to rest instead of run. He was tired of trying not to run. 

The seven hundredth time Theo checked his watch that day, the end of his shift was finally nearing. He´d only have to clean up some things, take out something close to a tonne of garbage and then cash up the register before he´d be free. Theo hurried through his remaining tasks, earning a few sceptical looks from his co-workers for his sudden increase of motivation and quickness. Well, what was there to say? It was simply the first day since he´d started working at the grocery store where a date was awaiting him. 

When he was finally done, Theo rushed home to get changed. It didn´t even have anything to do with Liam wishing to see him in his own clothes, but rather with Theo himself not allowing his official work shirt to be involved in his date. He went for a dark pair of jeans, not black, which actually, was a light pair of pants in comparison to everything else he owned. He reached for a dark-red sweater by instinct, then considered a grey button-down-shirt instead, eager to make a good first impression to Liam, who was going to look fantastic in no matter what kind of clothes. 

Then he remembered that it was too late for that first impression, that he´d already been down on his knees collecting canned fruits from the floor in front of Liam and he wanted to die of embarassment. But ultimately, he reminded himself that he´d still gotten this date, and it had been Liam who´d wanted it, so maybe there was a tiny chance his first impression hadn´t been completely terrible. Theo went with the sweater. 

He eyed his hair in the mirror for a solid thirty seconds, then decided he had no time to fix the absolute mess than was alive on top of his head. He´d have to hope Liam liked a casual (catastrophic!) look. Theo willed his body not to sweat any visible traces into his clothes, but his nervous (anxious!) mind didn´t really cooperate. He was too aware that the whole date thing could still be a prank, could still be the high-school-hottie proving his followers just how irresistible he was. No, Liam wouldn´t do something like that, would he? Theo wished he could be certain. 

He made it back to the store five minutes before four, but he wasn´t the first out of the two of them to arrive. 

"Hey there," Liam greeted cheerily. 

"Hey you," Theo replied, stopping just a little too far from Liam, making the whole thing awkward with his insecurity about how close he should get, about what would be an appropriate greeting. Should they hug or something? Theo had no idea, and the way the beautiful blue eyes were smiling at him didn´t exactly help him think straight. 

"Looks good on you," Liam complimented him, pointing at Theo´s upper body, "not that I have anything against the combination of red and green, but I think it was about time I saw you in something else." 

Theo blushed. God, how was he supposed to deal with this? They were like, one minute in and Liam´s cuteness was already killing him. "Thanks," he mumbled shyly.  
Liam let out a little laugh, but rather friendly than mocking. "There there, pretty boy, you´re probably used to getting compliments all the time," he remarked. 

"Not really," Theo answered with a shrug. 

"What? No! Come on, this is our first date, Theo, you can´t already be lying to me," Liam joked. 

Well, there were a lot of elder ladies who came to the store regularly, always calling Theo sweetie, touching his hands a little more than necessary while exchanging dollar bills and coins, wishing him an exaggeratedly good day when they left, but that didn´t count, right? Or the teenage girls that kept giggling and whispering among each other behind their manicured hands? They were girls after all, so what was it good for? 

"Well, alright," Theo admitted, "sometimes I do, but they´re mostly not the ones you want to hear. Or they don´t come from people you want to hear anything from."  
"You mean you have pervy costumers?" Liam wanted to know. 

Theo only just then realized that it was true, that there were a few people whose looks on him always made him shake in disgust, but none of them had ever really done anything to him. 

"I guess," he shrugged. 

"Eww," Liam made as a response. 

"Kinda, yeah," Theo nodded. 

"Oh my God!" Liam suddenly exclaimed, his eyes wide, one hand on its way up to cover his own mouth. "I´m one of them! I´ve been like, staring you up and down and shit for months now!" 

"You? What? No!" Theo denied vehemently. "You´re so different on every level, you don´t even know." 

"Am I?" Liam asked carefully. 

"Of course you are!" Theo insisted. "Because you´ve been very much allowed to stare at me. And frankly, I´ve been staring back. But you already knew that." 

Liam sighed in relief. "Hey, do you want to go see a movie?" he proposed. 

A movie. Him and Liam. Together. Watching a movie. A date. Theo still couldn´t believe it. 

"I´d love to," he answered. 

"Awesome," Liam smiled, "let´s go." 

They made their way to the cinema by foot, their conversation never dying, Liam laughing out loud with all his heart when he thought something was funny, Theo unable to avert his gaze from the other boy. He was simply too beautiful. It turned out Liam did attend Beacon Hills High School, he was a senior by now, but they couldn´t have known each other, as Liam had only transferred to the school for his very last school year. They talked about lacrosse, and for some reason, Theo knew Liam was the captain of the school team before he even said it, just from the passion he heard him talk about it. 

Theo didn´t know much to say about himself, other than he hated his job, but at least he always had a couple of funny stories to tell about costumers who´d shared way too many way too private details of their lives with him. "There´s this one lady, like in her fifties maybe," Theo began his latest one, "she usually buys a bottle of red wine every day. But this one evening last week, she comes in and grabs white wine instead. Believe me, I didn´t ask her why, but for some inexplicable reason, she feels like she has to tell me. So she informs me she needs it to resolve a little constipation." 

"What?" Liam laughed, "Seriously? Too much information, hugh?" 

"Damn right," Theo agreed, "she literally said ´the white one´s better for pooping´, can you believe that? A grown ass woman!" 

"Gross!" 

"So gross," Theo concluded, but his mind was far, far away from gross. All he could think about was how nice it was, being with Liam, talking, laughing, just throwing each other the ball as if they´d been doing it for years. It didn´t feel like it was their first date. But on the other hand, they´d kind of had it coming for a long time. 

"Can I ask you something?" Theo wanted to know after they´d bought their tickets for Love, Simon. 

"Sure," Liam responded, a curious expression on his wonderful face. 

Theo gathered all his courage. The question he had wasn´t that bad, but the possibilites for Liam´s answer were endless. 

"What´s up with the bananas?" he finally asked. 

Liam snorted in amusement. "You mean why I buy a banana every time I come to the store?" 

"Yeah." 

"God Theo," Liam commented, "the banana was code, obviously." 

"Code for what?" Theo wanted to know. 

"Are you serious right now?" Liam couldn´t contain his laughter. 

"What?" Theo complained. "Stop laughing at me." He didn´t manage to really be angry, though. The noises Liam was making were simply too adorable. 

"I´m sorry, but," he tried pulling himself together, wiping away a single tear from beneath his left eye, "it´s a fucking banana, Theo. What do you think it´s code for?" 

"Uhmmm..." Theo couldn´t bring himself to saying it. 

"It means dude, I´m hella gay," Liam finally explains. Theo probably wouldn´t have used those exact words, but he was glad it was basically precisely what he´d been thinking. 

"Good," he smiles, "that´s what I was hoping for." 

"God, you´re cute," Liam whispered. 

"How dare you," Theo whispered back, "we´re in public, Liam. And I´m probably as red as a tomato right now."

"Alright then," Liam retorted, "I´ll wait until we´re sitting in the dark during the movie then." Theo probably had a little heart attack when Liam winked at him. WINKED! How much more tension was his poor body supposed to take? 

Liam made sure to keep his promise ten minutes later. "You´re cute," he repeated when the lights went out in the big room. 

Theo wanted to say something back, wanted to tell Liam that he was cute too, that he was beautiful, that he was funny, and smart, and kind, and that he was making the afternoon the best date Theo could have wished for, but he was scared that if he started talking, he would accidentally propose to Liam at some point. So he took a deep breath in and reached for Liam´s hand instead. 

The skin over his knuckles felt warm and soft, and Liam moved his fingers to intertwine them with Theo´s immediately, his thumb drawing soothing circles into his skin. 

"We shouldn´t have picked a movie I actually wanna see," Theo breathed quietly, not wanting anyone else to witness their conversation. 

"Why?" Liam asked. 

"Because I can´t focus," Theo admitted, twitching his hand on Liam´s lap, pressing his fingers briefly. 

"Yeah, me neither," Liam agreed. 

It was silent for a moment, but not in an uncomfortable way. It was more like the intense handholding was too precious to be interrupted by words. 

"You know," Liam finally suggested, "we can always come back and watch it again some other day." 

Theo was speechless. Was Liam saying... that he wanted another date?

"What do we do this time, then?" he breathed out, almost too scared to let Liam hear it. But Liam did. 

When Liam smiled, Theo knew he was falling in love with the boy next to him. When Liam leaned in, Theo knew he was falling rapidly, crashing through every safety net on his way down down down into the ocean in Liam´s eyes. When they kissed, it was too late to ever go back. And Theo would gladly drown.


End file.
